DIY LED Hoop Kits

DIY LED HOOP KITS

LEDs

PARTS AND UPGRADES

ASSEMBLED LED HOOPS

Background

The following instructions are to be used to create an LED Hula Hoop using irrigation tubing and Maker Kits found on this website. The kit and instructions are designed so that you can assemble the hoop in about 2 hours using minimal tools and where soldering connections is optional. There are always more advanced ways to assemble and finish the hoop. If there are any advanced tips they will be noted throughout the page or at the bottom.

You can follow these instructions for both 3/4 inch and 1 inch thick hoops. The only difference is there is some modification recommended for the 1 inch connector as seen in step Eight.

And for the thinner 3/4 inch hoops you would use a strand of thin wire near the battery if the fit is too tight.

These kits do not include resistors because they are not required in this combination of LEDs and Battery.

Parts:

Tubing Length: You should have 10.5 feet of white tubing to make a 40 inch diameter hoop
To make a hoop of a different diameter please use the calculator on the right column of this site and cut your tube accordingly

Get tools:

Automatic Wire Strippers – These allow you to quickly and easily remove wire insulation only where needed leaving the complete length of wire intact. This is key for a solder-less assembly. You can find these at Radio Shack or Lowes for $16.99.

Stiff Steel Wire – 11 feet length- You can use this to help push the wire through your tube. Galvanized steel wire is easy to find in hardware stores. I recommend 22 or 16 Gauge thick wire. They can be purchases at Home Depot for $4 for 100 ft or $8 for 200 ft respectively.
16 Gauge is better but more expensive.

Make It:

(Reading Hint: you can skim through all the photos by clicking the first one and then using you right arrow key to advance to the next in a slide show format)

Step One: Prepare the Wire:

The coil of wire is most likely two 12 foot long wires paired together. Leave them paired for now. If you already have two separate wires, you should tape them together at one end.

You are going to want to mark the wire to indicate where the LEDs will be attached. This location is going to be a factor of the hoop size and number of LEDs. A standard ProdMod hoop is 40 inches in diameter and requires a tube length of 10.5 feet long (126 inches), and has 21 LEDs which are spaced 6 inches apart.
For custom configurations follow this equation (working in inches):
1. subtract 8 inches from your tube length
2. subtract 1 from the number of LEDs you want to use
3. Divide your tube length result from step 1 by the LED result from step 2.

Using a black marker, mark both of the wires in intervals of 6 inches apart, or the interval you calculate for your custom hoop.

Start from one end and work your way to the other end. You can do this by using a ruler, measuring tape, or by folding the wire every 6 inches. Make sure you mark both sides of the pair. Later you will separate these and still have to see the marks on each wire. Only make one mark for each LED and no more than that. You will end up with extra length of wire at the other end. This will make it easier to fish the wire through the tube and will give plenty of slack for connecting the switch and battery.
Hold the end of the wire, the end with extra slack, and look closely at the end of your paired wire. You should see a small cut between the two wires. If you don’t see it, then use a pair of cutters to make the cut as shown in the photo.

Then you can simply take one end in each hand and pull it apart.

Pull it about 4 inches apart for now and label each wire using scotch tape. Label one wire as “+” and the other as “-“.

(You can also use the color coding on the wire itself, one wire has a white stripe, the other does not. But this is sometimes hard to see. Typically the white stripe is used for negative) Now go ahead and keep pulling the wire apart until you have two separate strands.

Step Two: Strip the wire:

You are going to have to strip away the plastic insulation of the wire at each of the point you marked. This exposes the copper wire that you will later attach the LEDs to in order to make you electrical connection. I highly recommend using a simple quick stripper tool to do this. Or use a standard wire stripping tool. I do NOT recommend using a knife or razor blade.
Work with one wire at a time. When you strip these areas start from one end and work your way to the other. NEVER use this tool on the same area twice, you will almost always cut the wire right off. See the video below for an example of the correct method.

See the video for how easy it is to strip using an automatic wire stripper

If you use the quick stripper you would probably get 1/8” gap each time.

This is ok if you are only going to wrap the LEDs in place and not solder, but a ¼” gap is better in general and easier for soldering.

To make the gaps bigger I recommend pulling the wire insulation apart with your hands. You may have to keep pulling each section in the same direction.

When this process is complete you should have two wires that each have insulation stripped in 21 locations about 6” apart from each other. Pair them up with each other again so that the stripped areas are next to each other as they were before you pulled the wire apart. Find the end with your positive and negative labels. Now pull the positive wire up about 1 inch so that the stripped areas are offset as seen in the photo.

Use scotch tape to fix the two wires together and strip the very ends of each wire on the side where the labels are – strip almost ½ an inch, you will use this later to connect to the battery.

Step Three: Prepare the LEDs:

The LEDs in your kit come in different bags so that you know which ones are Blue, Green, or Color changing. These LEDS were chosen for their brightness and subsequently they also don’t have any color tint on their lens. So as you work with these LEDs you will want to keep track of which color they are. You might want to work with only one color at a time and return them to the original labeled bag when you are done. Or set them aside in different areas of your workspace or in labeled cups or trays.

(In this kit you do not need to use resistors, but if you chose to you would solder them to the longer leg)

Step Four: Connect the LEDs:

First you’ll have to decide where you want each LED to go. Most kits supply you with an even number of each. So you could alternate them one at a time like Blue, Green Color, Blue, Green, Color etc. Start with the end of the wire pair that you have labeled and tied together.

Repeat this step for the remaining 20 LEDs in the color pattern you’ve chosen. Be sure that you are always connecting the longer leg to the positive wire and the shorter leg to the negative wire. Otherwise the LED will not light.

You will be twisting the legs of the LEDs onto the stripped area of the wires. Each LED should look like this.

Check out this video to see how to do it

Attach one at a time, and test them with a battery to ensure they are connected properly

Step Five: Test the LEDs

Use the battery to test your circuit after EACH connection so that you can catch a problem early. If any LEDs are not lit, check that they are in fact making a connection to the copper wire. Then check that they have the correct polarity. You can try removing the LED from the wires and attaching it backwards. If it lights up, then you can leave it in that position, do NOT try to bend the LED legs in a different direction, they may break. **Warning ** do not do this with the AA module kit, you have to attach at least 7 LEDs before powering with the AA module kit.

Step Six: Fix the LEDs and insulate

If ALL of your LEDs lit up as expected you can now fix them in place and insulate them. Here you could solder the LEDs to the wire for a permanent connection but I have made and used LED Hoops that I simply twisted LEDs onto the wires without any solder and they worked just fine. As long as you are confident you made a tight connection.

Whether you solder them or not you MUST insulate the positive wire and metal from the negative wire and metal. You can do this with one short piece of electric tape. White is preferred. You only need about 1.5 inches of tape per LED

See video

ADVANCED TIP! – Silencing the hoop

If you are a real stickler for a silent hoop there are two ways to do this.

Method 1:

One method is to wrap the wire with clear packing tape, the stronger the better. You can wrap one layer of tape tightly around the wire from first LED to last LED. Make sure the sticky side of the tape is always covered by the smooth side. Only the smooth side of the tape should be on the outside. Do not only tape between LEDs. You should cover the LED bulb, it will not affect light output. The tape should cover the entire wire from first LED to last LED.

This stiffens the wire so that you can try sending it through the tube without the help of additional stiff wire (shown in step 9). This tape alone will be somewhat quiet, especially in thinner tubing, but you should slide the wire through the tube you have and shake it to see if you like it. If you want to make it quieter you can wrap a second layer of tape, but this time let the tape be wider, about the size of the inside diameter of your tube. You can do this for the whole length of the wire, but it might be hard to push through the tube. Instead you can just place a few extra pieces of tape between every second LED. The photo below is a bit exaggerated but this is the idea.

Now you should be able to push the wire through the tubing easily and prevent it from rattling. But don’t leave the wire in there just yet! You need to continue to the next step to prepare the tubing which involves drilling and cutting and you don’t want to damage the LED wire you just made. Or check out method 2 below for another way to silence the hoop.

Method 2

Wrap the wires in a thin layer of bubble wrap about 2 inches wide and 3/16 thick. This prevents the LEDs from hitting the inside of the tube while you hoop. Which you wont notice with loud music, but some people prefer this treatment. These photos should help guide you.PLEASE NOTE!!
Wrap it tightly so that it is not too thick for the tubing.
Be sure to face the bumpy bubbles towards the LEDs and leave the smooth surface on the outside. You wont be able to push the wire through the tube on its own but you can pull it using an extra piece of stiff wire shown in step 9.
The bubble wrap technique might be too thick for the thiner .6 x 0.75 inch hoop tubing. Method 1 with clear packing tape should work best.

Step Seven: Prepare the tubing

There are two ends on your tube, one will have the switch and a coupling fixed into the tube. The other is where the battery will slide into along with the looser fitting end of the coupling.

Using the connector, mark the tube to indicate how far the connector will reach into the tube. This gives you an idea of where the switch can be. Give yourself another inch to give you some room.

3 inches seems to be a good place to start. Use a marker to sketch out an area to fit your switch.NOTE!! If you want to plan ahead for the possibility that you upgrade to a rechargeable battery in the future, then you should move the switch over another inch. So you will be about 4 inches from the end. Then later you can make the hole for the DC jack between your connector and your switch.

There are a few ways to cut the hole for the switch. You can use a box-cutter style razor or a very sharp knife – the tube is slippery always cut away from your body!! You can use a rotary tool (dremel) with either a cutting bit or cutting disc. Before cutting make sure to examine the switch you are using and identify its size. Sometimes smaller switches will be included in the Hoop kit. The standard large switch body width is about 0.300″ so you could also use a 1/4” drill bit to make two holes into the tubing. But if you have a smaller switch you’ll need to use a smaller drill bit. Either way you should use a marker to draw a rectangle that is the same size of your switch body WITHOUT THE FLAPS so you know where to cut. The switch sits inside the tube but the flaps are on the outside to prevent it from falling in. So start with a small diameter bit and work your way up in drill size. Or you can make 4 small holes at each corner and use a knife to cut out the square.

Then using a knife you can carve out the rectangular shape to fit the switch. But be very careful, the tube is very slippery, always cut away from your body. Or you might just use a dremel tool from start to finish. - Actually the dremel rotary tool is HIGHLY recommended. It worked extremely well in our LED Hoop Making Workshop and at the Maker Faire.

The switch in this kit has flaps on either end that keep it from falling into the tube. We are going to finish this switch installation later, but for now just make sure the hole is just big enough for ONLY the switch body.

Step Eight: Prepare the connector

This LED Hula Hoop uses a non rechargeable battery, so you are eventually going to have to open the hoop to change it. The connector for the 1 inch tube is very strong and very difficult to remove once attached. To make this possible, I highly recommend you reduce the diameter of one side of the connector. This is the side that will be closest to the battery and will need to be pulled out of the tube for battery replacement.

Use a metal file or coarse sandpaper to smooth the edges of the connector teeth.

As you trim the teeth edges, test the fit by pushing it into one end of your tube. You should be able to just get it in by twisting and pushing. You don’t want it too loose. And if you are measuring, the diameter should be about .830”. It’s better to be too big, then too small. You can always remove more material, but you can’t add it.

When you are done the connector looks something like this

You should do something similar for the 3/4 version as well.

Step Nine: Fish Wire Through:

Now you are ready to fish the LED wire through the tube. If you wrapped your LED wire in clear packing tape as described in Step 6, then you should be able to simply push the LED wire into the tube. You can follow the same steps below so that your extra length of wire comes out on the side with the switch hole. This technique might not work so well with the more flexible translucent tubing but you can try by extending the tube as straight as you can while you push the wire through.

If you did not wrap your LED wire with anything, or if you did wrap it with bubble wrap, then you should use an extra piece of stiff wire to help pull the LED wire with. A really cheap source of stiff wire is from the window installation section of a hardware store. The brand I used is called OOK. I used 22 Gauge galvanized steel wire, it even comes with a built in cutter and its about $3 for 100 feet. But it can be a little floppy sometimes so I would recommend get thicker wire like 18 gauge so its stronger and easier to send through the tube.

You’ll need about 11 feet of stiff wire. Basically a bit more than the length of your tube. The concept is simple, send the stiff wire through the tube first so you can use it to pull your wire through the tube. Unless you have stiffened the LED wire with clear packing tape mentioned about, the LED wire alone is probably too flimsy to push through the tube on its own.

You should have some extra slack at the end of your LED wire away from the LEDs. This is the end that will eventually be attached to the switch, jack and battery. You might have marked them “+” and “-”. Tie the stiff steel wire to that end of the wire.

Form a hook with one end of the stiff wire, and tie a single knot around that hook with the LED wire.

Then use the long portion of the stiff wire to wrap tightly around the LED wire. This should be tight enough so it wont come loose as you pull it through.NOTE!! If you have wrapped the wire in plastic or bubble wrap make sure that the stiff metal wire is firmly attached to the LED wire and the plastic wrapping, not just the plastic.

To get the wire to align properly with the switch hole you will need to insert the stiff wire into the end of the tube opposite the switch. You should straighten out the stiff wire before sending it through to avoid it bending and kinking in the tube.

Slowly and gently pull the LED wire through the tube by pulling the stiff metal wire that you have exiting the tube near the switch. Have a friend help you straighten the hoop temporarily so that you feel the least resistance to movement. Especially if you have used plastic wrap or bubble wrap around the wire.

When you are done pulling the wire through you should see something like the photo below. Your last LED is on your right. DO NOT pull any further, that last LED might slip into the tube and drop too far, and you’ll have to start over again.

Now slowly pull the wire further until the last LED falls into the tube. Tape that end of the wire to the tube so that it doesnt fall in while you work on attaching your switch. Remove the stiff wire from the LED wire.

Step Ten: Switch installation:

If you are making a basic LED hoop with a non-rechargeable battery continue below.

Using a paper clip, bend it into the shape of a hook. Reach into the tube through the switch hole and gently pull out one of the wires into a short loop as shown in the photo below. It doesn’t matter which but you only need one. Sometimes its easier to hook both wires and pull them out slightly, but be sure to shove one of them back into the hole. You only want to be working with one wire at this time. The remaining length of your wires should still be passing through the inside of you tube and exiting out the tube end towards where your battery will be.

Then cut that onesingle wire that you partially pulled out of the switch hole and strip both ends. Expose a long length of copper wire, about 1 inch.

You are only going to connect to one set of outside terminals with one of the exposed copper wire and connect one set of center terminals with the other exposed copper end. Send the wire through the both holes in the switch terminals and twist them tightly as shown.

Arranging the wires on opposite sides helps keep it from shorting.

Test the circuit by connecting the exposed ends of the wire to the proper battery terminal and slide the switch lever a few times.

You have a choice again here. You can leave it connected like this and wrap it in electrical tape to keep the connection and prevent shorts. You might even try covering the wire and terminals with hot glue. Or you can solder the wires to the terminals for a more permanent connection and then wrap it with electrical tape.

When your switch connection is complete you can push the wires back into the tubing and seat the switch.

Then use electrical tape around the flaps to keep the switch in place.

This might also be a good time to cut off the long slide lever.

WATCH YOUR EYES!Wear safety glasses. That thing shoots clear across the room at high speed when its clipped off!

Step Eleven: Install the Coupling:

Remove the string from the wire. Pass the wires that extend from the switch through the coupling.

If you had modified one side of your coupling you would make sure that side is pointing out of the tube.

Press the unmodified end of the coupling into the tube near the switch. This is probably going to be hard to do. To make it easier you should heat up that part of the white tube with a hair dryer or heat gun. The more you heat the tube the easier it will be to push teh coupling in.

If you still have trouble pushing the coupling all the way you can try pressing it up against a hard flat surface like the floor. BUT BEFORE YOU DO THAT be sure to tuck in the wires first, otherwise you can accidentally cut them off.

So after you tuck the wires, heat the white tube again and push it against the floor.

Step Twelve: Attach Battery:

Cut the negative wire about 2 inches from the connector

Strip that end and wrap it around the negative lead of the battery.

Then wrap the lead of the battery around the plastic part of the wire like you might have done with the LED legs.

I recommend you leave it connected like this, so that it is easier to replace. If you solder it in place you will have a harder time to replace the battery. To keep the battery from extending too far you might want to bend the battery leg again as shown

Then do the same with the other end of the battery.
NOTE: You will want to wrap this end with electrical tape, just to make sure it doesn’t accidentally touch the LED in the tube.

Added: Now that the wire is secure to the switch and you have attached the battery you can remove that tape from the other end of the tube that you applied in STEP 9. Then cut the excess wire and allow it to fall back into the tube. You will need this space in the tube to fit the battery.

Step Thirteen: Close the hoop:

Slide the battery into the open end of the tube and push the tube onto the connector. Snip off any excess plastic on the connector if you have not already

Push the two ends of the tube over the connector and get them as close as you can. Use electric tape to keep the hoop securely closed.

You’re done!!

Now turn off the lights and start hooping!

Send your photos or video links to prodmod and be included in our gallery.

Final Touches

You are not really finished, are you? There is always more you can do with a DIY project. You can mod this ProdMod, in fact it is strongly encouraged.
Some suggestions:

Add gaffers tape to increase the grip.
Use sandpaper on the inner diameter to improve the grip.
Use some colorful electric tape to add some style.

Upgrades to enhance your LED hoop

- AA Module - power your hoop with only one AA battery, alkaline or rechargeable. Swap it out for a fresh battery as needed. Great for hooping off the grid, no need to hunt down a power outlet with a few AA’s in your pocket.

- Silence your hoop – simply wrap the LED wire with thin 3/16″ thick bubble wrap before sliding it into you tube. This also helps diffuse the light a bit. You might even try layers of saran wrap.

Mundotozz says:

What an awesome fun thing! I saw this tuesday at 3 am ordered it . You got it to me on thursday afternoon. I sat down the morning before my nieces birthday party. That night she had an awesome fun toy Good product and great service.

prodmod says:

Thanks for the positive feedback Wes. I never know if my instructions are too much are not enough. We all have different sets of skills, so it is good to know that you think I did well. So have you made yours yet? You can post some photos up on my flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/prodmodledhulahoop/

Hey there,
I got my kit, put it together (with minimal help from my dh lol), and took it to a class I teach at a local park. It was a great success!!! Now I need to make a few more so my kids will stop stealing mine!
Thanks,
Jen

Robert says:

Can’t see in the photo’s how you have secured the end of the wire which was taped to the end of the tube to stop in slipping back in while you installed the switch etc. Or does it just lay in the end of the tube without sliding back?

Josh says:

prodmod says:

I am not sure I follow your question. This kit does not use a AA battery. It uses a 3.6V lithium battery. it just happens to be shaped like a AA. The lithium lasts about 5-6 hours. One AA battery wont have enough voltage to run the LEDs unless you use a boost circuit.

prodmod says:

Hi Kyle, just keep in mind that most LED Christmas battery powered lights have resistors on each LED. This means they wont shine as bright if you are using the 3.6V battery shown in these instructions. They are usually designed for 4×1.5V batteries ~ 6V.

Tiffany says:

prodmod says:

If you purchase the kit directly from me it usually comes in a 20x20x4″ box. But lately I have also shipped them in a tough plastic bag of about 20x20x3″. If you buy direct from makershed.com it may be packed in a different box. You can contact them for details help@makershed.com

Tiffany says:

hi, i received the kit and i put it together and all the led’s worked. but when i had the led’s inside the tube, it doesn’t turn on as quick as it should once u switch it on. im not sure what is wrong. can u help me? may it be the battery? i bent the lead arms alot so its not a straight piece of metal anymore. does that effect it? it turns on, but it only flashes the color changing led and only flashes red and doesn’t change into another color. and my green and blue led’s does not turn on also..

prodmod says:

Tiffany, you have a short circuit somewhere in your system. You can to check all your connections again and make sure there are not metal parts touching eachother. If it worked properly outside of the tube then something must have happened when you placed the wire into the tube. Did you tape the LED legs to insulate them from eachother?
also look at your switch connection and make sure it looks like my photos.

Rae says:

Since I had to buy by tubing separately, how do I measure out the 10.5 ft? Do I measure along the outside of the hoop, or along the inside? Or if I want to measure out a 40inch diameter, do I measure from inside edge to inside edge, or outside edge to outside edge? Thanks!

prodmod says:

i measure 126 inches along the outside of the hoop when I cut to size.
If I am measuring a finished hoop its from outside edge to outside edge.
The hoop wont be a perfect circle, so it might measure over 40 inches in one direction and under 40 inches in another direction

carmen says:

prodmod says:

you can find more info on the tubing on the maker kit page. The tubing you see in the above pictures is usually called natural color HDPE tubing. Manufacturers usually sell in 100 foot rolls, but you can also buy smaller lengths from places like mcmaster.com. see the page I linked to for more details.

Alicia says:

so I got all the way to step 9 and was fishing the wire through the tube and some tape stuck on the inside and the wire broke off inside. I managed to get the rest of that wire out and reattach to the rest of the wire. Previous to this all of my lights were shining bright but afterward none of them would at all, even by the end that hadn’t broken or anything… I’ve been waiting to on this for so long and I just wanted to have it in time for my only festival of the summer in 2 weeks. If there is no hope for my wire and leds I guess I need to reorder new LEDs and wire and start over is that right? Is there an option to order just the wire and how much is it? I would like to place my order for this asap. Thanks

prodmod says:

its odd that the wire broke since when you strip the wire you only remove the insulation and don’t cut through the copper. Also the tape should be that tacky and strong as to resist you pulling on it and force a break. were you using clear packing tape? or electric tape? bubble wrap? were the LEDs soldered or not? If you connect the wires back together and nothing lights up you should check that the polarity is correct, that the positive is connected to the positive etc. try reversing the way you connected it and see if that helps.
The wire is simple 22AWG stereo speaker wire you can get at Radio Shack.
try to get you LEDs to work, if not you can buy replacement and i can give you the wire for free.
or I guess I can send you wire if you pay shipping.
I’ll email you directly for more assistance.

megan says:

Hi there. I got the AA battery core with my kit and set about putting it together last night. I attached 7 LEDs to the wire to test but none of them are lighting up. I attached all to the correct corresponding wire but still nothing. I’m not sure what’s going on wrong. Any ideas?

prodmod says:

if you are making the LED hoop with the AA MOD circuit you should be following instructions on this other page http://prodmod.com/make/ledhoopaa/
are you following that page?
also when you test the LEDs using this circuit make sure that your LEDs are connected first, then the battery. Not the other way around. Basically never power the black circuit cube without LEDs attached to the orange and green wires.

Hoop Kyttn says:

I have purchased various materials from your site, and am still in the process of gathering supples. I did not purchase the AA battery upgrade kit from you, but have acquired everything but the “boost circuit” is there a technical term for this? Most of my parts are on the way, and would rather pick this up in the store, so that I do not have to prolong the build any longer than I have to. Very excited. Thanks!

Marla says:

My sweetheart & I are trying to follow your directions and make a hoop for my daughter. We have purchased your flashing leds not yet received, and bought non blinking from other site, have switch and battery holder. we need to know what is another term for circuit module or if we need to use resistors. it is not seemed to be recognized at radio shack. we want to put a 3.6 volt rechargable battery in the hoop. WE cannot afford the module you offer. Other sites say one resistor per light ???? everything seems contradicting. please help. thank you

Liz says:

Got a question about the connector. Have you tried making it with a button (McMaster-carr part #94282A250)? I’ve made collapsible hoops with these (cut hoop into 4-5 pieces) and they work great. I was wondering if instead you think it would work to put a button on the one connector (with flexible tubing) and be able to pull it apart and wrap it around like you say so it’s about half size in diameter and close it back up for travel. I’m nervous about trying it because I don’t want to waste tubing, but I’m curious if you’ve tried it or think it would work.

Liz says:

Thanks for the quick response. So, my situation is that I want to be able to open the hoop to either replace the AA battery (if using the AA module option) or to replace the rechargeable battery (waaaay down the road; if using the rechargeable option). I know you have the method of slightly filing, but I don’t want to worry about the hoop opening up when spinning fast (or having to tape it at the connector all the time to ensure it doesn’t open up). I also do want to collapse it into the ~half size hoop. See my concern with the slightly-filed connector and why I’d even consider the button connector?

Another question I have: if I make the rechargeable hoop, do I need a specific voltage/current for the output of the charger? I ask because I already have a DC plug charger and would rather not buy something I don’t need to.

AndreaR says:

I ordered my hoop making kit here and the tubing from the mcmaster website on Saturday. Does anyone know about how long the shipping takes for each of these? Niether of the sites have any information about shipping.

prodmod says:

Potter says:

Had to use a little more force than I would have liked when pulling my wire through the hoop. Now when I connect to the battery the switch won’t regulate properly. Instead of turning off the LED’s just dim when I flip the switch. What could cause this?

prodmod says:

What caused you to pull so hard? Did you wrap the wire in something thick? What tube size are you using?

It might not be related to wire pulling. In order for the switch to still conduct in the “off” position, something must be wrong with the switch connection. Double check to be sure the wires are only connected to the terminals I show in my photo. Sometimes little tiny strands of copper might have gotten loose and connected to another terminal, the “off” terminal you might call it.

In general check all your connections and make sure there are no shorts anywhere, including switch, battery connection, and LED connections.

prodmod says:

At the bottom of step 4 it says to attach one LED at a time and connect the battery to check that it works before adding more LEDs. Have you done this? If you didnt do that it will be hard to find out what went wrong. You can start carefully removing LEDs until they work. In general you need to be sure that each LED is attached the right way (positive and negative) and be sure there are no shorts anywhere. The metal parts of the LED should not touch any other metal parts or wire. Also look closely at the switch. Sometimes strands of wire can get loose and create a bridge from one side to the other of the switch and create a short. Did you solder every connection? or just twist the wires?

conway says:

John Galaher says:

Hey I am trying to use a 2 circuit switch so that I can have 21 color changing on one line and 21 UV lights on another. I ordered a pre-wired 3 setting switch but am not sure how I need to go about getting it all connected? I know that I will need to use an extra speaker wire and Im guessing that you just need to follow the same instructions for AA replacable battery only attaching the negative feeds for the UV lights onto a seperate wire from the negative feeds of the 21 color changing lights. However I am unclear how I would then be able to connect this extra line to the battery and switch? can you guys help me.

prodmod says:

Hi John, I should draw a picture but words will have to do for now. Basically you can treat the middle wire as the input and the two outer wires as the outputs to your “2 channels” or two circuits.

This switch will only control one side of the battery power and therefore only connects to one side of the battery. I like to use switches to control the positive side.

So the positive wire from your battery should connect to the middle wire of your switch.
Then you connect the left wire to the positive wire of circuit 1, and the right wire to the positive wire of circuit 2.
And you connect the negative wire of both circuits directly to the negative wire on the battery.

So the switch is diverting positive power to either circuit 1 or circuit 2. The center position on the switch is a dead connection so it just connects to nothing… Essentially off.

To simplify your wire harness, I recommend you share one wire as the negative wire for both circuits. This way you only need 3 wires not 4. Two positive wires, one negative wire.

LisA says:

So me and my brother put together one of your hoop kits, and it’s beautiful! I ordered LED’s that had about the same voltage drop, but I was wondering how to do RED leds with UV leds? I wanted to make a rainbow, but it isn’t quite working because red,orange,yellow all seem to have a fv of 2.4 and green,blue,uv,pink,aqua, all have a fv of 3.4. Do i need resistors? Is there a simpler way to make this work? I already separated the hoop into 2 separate peices, but, I’m afraid I’ll burn out the red orange yellow section with a 3.6 volt battery, and won’t be able to light it with a 1.5 volt.
I’m wishing ohms law was a lot simpler LOL.
Thanks so much, your hoop kits rock!

Heather says:

Sorry, for the confusion. I was wondering if 21 5mm leds with a volt of 3.2-3.6 would be compatible with a 3.2V battery? would I need resistors?
Also is there a certain size or type DC jack, I should use? and what charger is compatible with the DC jack? I’m really exited to get started! Thanks!

prodmod says:

You can use the 3.2v battery with LEDs rated for 3.2-3.6 without resistors. The battery is basically not providing enough voltage to burn out the LED.
The DC jack and charger are sold on this site in the Rechargeable Battery Maker Kit here . You cant use this battery with any other charger.

daniela says:

Hello! i’m from Argentina and i try to do a hoop with leds, but i don’t know what type of led i should use. Because the leds i have don’t work with a battery AA with 1,5 V. the leds turns on with 2 batteries AA, and only 10 leds… how i can do the installation? those are special leds? thank you and sorry for my poor english jaja

prodmod says:

prodmod says:

Daniela, you need to supply at least 3 volts to turn on these LEDs. You will need one of the batteries that I offer on this site. You can find complete electronics parts kits at this linkhttp://prodmod.com/buy/led-hoop-maker-kit/
I ship all over the world

Justin Quinones says:

Hi, i just finished making my led hula hoop with the slow changing leds, for some reason they stay red and once in awhile will change to green or blue, can u please help me with this, ive posted a video showing the problem im having, idk if its something with the connection or what if so please get back to me asap thank u

prodmod says:

Hi justin, the red color takes the least amount of power so this typically means your battery is running low. The battery is new in the kit, so the question is what is draining your battery? The usual culprit is a short somewhere in your wiring. Mkst people find issues with the wiring of the switch. In some cases it can be accidentally wired in a way that drains the battery even when its off. Another culprit is leaving the battery connected while attaching leds, you may have shorted the wires along the way and drained the battery. Usethe contact form is you want to discuss further.

Sarah Hunt-Frank says:

Is there a reason you use speaker wire and not traditional zip chord? I would like to make some of these for a decoration but I want to be able to plug them in. I thought I could use zip chord and put an Edison plug on the end. Will this blow the LEDs?

prodmod says:

Never plug LEDs directly to your home outlet it will blow the LEDs, it’s dangerous and can cause a fire hazard. The LEDs are rated for 3-4v max. In order to plug them into the wall you either need to use an AC to DC converter or a special diode circuit which I do not have instructions for on this site,

Dan says:

I am making the same exact hoop with the same set up. My only question is where can I find the changing LEDs? Also, do they automatically change colors on their own? Because I had some red/green LEDs that only changed colors when I switch them around.

Tiffany says:

prodmod says:

Yes. But It is thinner and might be harder to guide through the tube. You alo want to be careful while stripping it since it may break more easily. But in general it is ok to use.. Just requires a more careful hand

Thank you for every other informative web site. Where else may just I am getting that type of info written in such an ideal means? I have a undertaking that I’m simply now operating on, and I have been at the look out for such information.

Lauren says:

Hello! I’m having an issue installing the switch. Each time (I’ve redone it at least 3 times with 2 different switches) I test they do not have any affect on the lights. The lights work fine, but the switch won’t turn it off. I’ve tried restripping the wire, made sure nothing is touching, etc. I used the positive wire. Any advice?

Make Your Perfect says:

I didn’t get the LEDs from you. But it sounds like I need to get my LED supplies from you from here on out!

The red, orange and yellow say they’re 1.9-2V, and the blue, purple, white and pink say they’re 2.9-3.1V. With the red, orange and yellow lights I used the resistors that came with the LEDs.

I’m using an Ultrafire Lithium Ion 3.6V battery.

When I hook everything up, it lights up evenly. However, within 25-30 minutes, the blue, white and pink LEDs begin to dim. They go out completely within a few minutes. If I put in a new battery at that point, they will light up brightly again.